Temporal Exploration of COPD Phenotypes: Insights from the COPDGene and SPIROMICS Cohorts.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibits considerable progression heterogeneity. We hypothesized that elastic principal graph analysis (EPGA) would identify distinct clinical phenotypes and their longitudinal relationships.

Methods: Cross-sectional data from 8,972 tobacco-exposed COPDGene participants, with and without COPD, were used to train a model with EPGA, using thirty clinical, physiologic and CT features.

Host and pathogen factors that influence variability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipid body content in sputum from patients with tuberculosis: an observational study.

Background: High proportions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells in sputum containing triacylglycerol-rich lipid bodies have been shown to be associated with treatment failure or relapse following antituberculous chemotherapy. Although lipid body determination is a potential biomarker for supporting clinical trial and treatment decisions, factors influencing variability in sputum frequencies of lipid body-positive (%LB) M tuberculosis in patients are unknown. We aimed to test our hypothesis that exposure to host-generated NO and M tuberculosis strains are factors associated with differences in sputum %LB.

The Family and Pregnancy Pop-Up Village: Developing a one-stop shop of services to reduce pregnancy care-related inequities in San Francisco.

Introduction: Centering affected individuals and forming equitable institutional-community partnerships are necessary to meaningfully transform care delivery systems. We describe our use of the PRECEDE-PROCEED framework to design, plan, and implement a novel care delivery system to address perinatal inequities in San Francisco.

Methods: Community engagement (PRECEDE phases 1-2) informed the "Pregnancy Village" prototype, which would unite key organizations to deliver valuable services alongside one another, as a recurring "one-stop-shop" community-based event, delivered in an uplifting, celebratory, and healing environment.

Local heterogeneity of normal lung parenchyma and small airways disease are associated with COPD severity and progression.

Background: Small airways disease (SAD) is a major cause of airflow obstruction in COPD patients and has been identified as a precursor to emphysema. Although the amount of SAD in the lungs can be quantified using our Parametric Response Mapping (PRM) approach, the full breadth of this readout as a measure of emphysema and COPD progression has yet to be explored. We evaluated topological features of PRM-derived normal parenchyma and SAD as surrogates of emphysema and predictors of spirometric decline.

Understanding how COVID-19 affected black pregnant women early in the pandemic: A cross-sectional survey.

Objective: Previous research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased anxiety among pregnant women, and at the same time, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected communities of color in the United States. We sought to understand how self-identied Black pregnant women in the United States were affected in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: Cross-sectional, online survey distributed via social media SETTING: Online PARTICIPANTS: Non-probability, convenience sample of self-identified Black pregnant women in the United States between April 3 and 24, 2020 who responded to an online inquiry seeking women who were pregnant at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Topologic Parametric Response Mapping Identifies Tissue Subtypes Associated with Emphysema Progression.

Rationale And Objectives: Small airways disease (SAD) and emphysema are significant components of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a heterogenous disease where predicting progression is difficult. SAD, a principal cause of airflow obstruction in mild COPD, has been identified as a precursor to emphysema. Parametric Response Mapping (PRM) of chest computed tomography (CT) can help distinguish SAD from emphysema.

Quantitative CT of Normal Lung Parenchyma and Small Airways Disease Topologies are Associated With COPD Severity and Progression.

Objectives: Small airways disease (SAD) is a major cause of airflow obstruction in COPD patients, and has been identified as a precursor to emphysema. Although the amount of SAD in the lungs can be quantified using our Parametric Response Mapping (PRM) approach, the full breadth of this readout as a measure of emphysema and COPD progression has yet to be explored. We evaluated topological features of PRM-derived normal parenchyma and SAD as surrogates of emphysema and predictors of spirometric decline.

Lung cancer lesion detection in histopathology images using graph-based sparse PCA network.

Early detection of lung cancer is critical for improvement of patient survival. To address the clinical need for efficacious treatments, genetically engineered mouse models (GEMM) have become integral in identifying and evaluating the molecular underpinnings of this complex disease that may be exploited as therapeutic targets. Assessment of GEMM tumor burden on histopathological sections performed by manual inspection is both time consuming and prone to subjective bias.

Machine learning for screening of at-risk, mild and moderate COPD patients at risk of FEV decline: results from COPDGene and SPIROMICS.

The purpose of this study was to train and validate machine learning models for predicting rapid decline of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV) in individuals with a smoking history at-risk-for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD 0), or with mild-to-moderate (GOLD 1-2) COPD. We trained multiple models to predict rapid FEV decline using demographic, clinical and radiologic biomarker data. Training and internal validation data were obtained from the COPDGene study and prediction models were validated against the SPIROMICS cohort.

Elevating Women's Voices: The Illinois Maternal Health Digital Storytelling Project.

Numerous initiatives at the national, state, and local levels are focused on addressing the U.S. maternal health crisis.

CT-based Machine Learning for Donor Lung Screening Prior to Transplantation.

Background: Assessment and selection of donor lungs remains largely subjective and experience based. Criteria to accept or decline lungs are poorly standardized and are not compliant with the current donor pool. Using ex vivo CT images, we investigated the use of a CT-based machine learning algorithm for screening donor lungs prior to transplantation.

Diaphragmatic ultrasound and patent ductus arteriosus in the newborn: A retrospective case series.

Background: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) and diaphragmatic dysfunction are frequently seen in newborn infants but their relationship remains unknown. We aimed to use point of care ultrasound to compare diaphragmatic kinetics in infants with a PDA compared to in those without a PDA.

Methods: M-mode ultrasonography was used to measure the mean inspiratory velocity ( ) in newborn infants with and without a haemodynamically significant PDA admitted in the Neonatal Unit at King's College Hospital during a three month period.

Xenbase: key features and resources of the Xenopus model organism knowledgebase.

Xenbase (https://www.xenbase.org/), the Xenopus model organism knowledgebase, is a web-accessible resource that integrates the diverse genomic and biological data from research on the laboratory frogs Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis.

Cytauxzoon felis in salivary glands of Amblyomma americanum.

Cytauxzoon felis is a tick-borne piroplasmid hemoparasite that causes life-threatening disease in cats. Despite the critical role that ticks play in pathogen transmission, our knowledge regarding the C. felis life cycle remains limited to the feline hosts.

Nuclease resistance and protein recognition properties of DNA and hybrid PNA-DNA four-way junctions.

Nucleic acids possess unique biochemical features that make them ideal candidates to inhibit "difficult to target" proteins. The limited stability of nucleic acids in vivo presents a major obstacle to their development as drugs. Here, immobile four-way junctions (4WJs) are used to target the DNA-binding cytokine, High Mobility Group B1.

Improving Inclusivity in Robotics Design: An Exploration of Methods for Upstream Co-Creation.

Disabled people are often involved in robotics research as potential users of technologies which address specific needs. However, their more generalised lived expertise is not usually included when planning the overall design trajectory of robots for health and social care purposes. This risks losing valuable insight into the lived experience of disabled people, and impinges on their right to be involved in the shaping of their future care.

Quantitative CT Correlates with Local Inflammation in Lung of Patients with Subtypes of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction.

Chronic rejection of lung allografts has two major subtypes, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) and restrictive allograft syndrome (RAS), which present radiologically either as air trapping with small airways disease or with persistent pleuroparenchymal opacities. Parametric response mapping (PRM), a computed tomography (CT) methodology, has been demonstrated as an objective readout of BOS and RAS and bears prognostic importance, but has yet to be correlated to biological measures. Using a topological technique, we evaluate the distribution and arrangement of PRM-derived classifications of pulmonary abnormalities from lung transplant recipients undergoing redo-transplantation for end-stage BOS (N = 6) or RAS (N = 6).

The association of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy with preterm birth: A retrospective cohort study in California.

Introduction: Our understanding of the association between coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and preterm or early term birth among racially and ethnically diverse populations and people with chronic medical conditions is limited.

Methods: We determined the association between COVID-19 and preterm (PTB) birth among live births documented by California Vital Statistics birth certificates between July 2020 and January 2021 (n=240,147). We used best obstetric estimate of gestational age to classify births as very preterm (VPTB, <32 weeks), PTB (< 37 weeks), early term (37 and 38 weeks), and term (39-44 weeks), as each confer independent risks to infant health and development.

Reporting Excellent Transverse Piezoelectric and Electro-Optic Effects in Transparent Rhombohedral PMN-PT Single Crystal by Engineered Domains.

Transparent ferroelectric crystals with high piezoelectricity are challenging to build because of their complex structure and disordered domains in rhombohedral relaxor ferroelectrics. There are eight domains along the <111> direction, which cause light scattering. In this study, perfect transparency is achieved along the [110] and [001] directions in [110]-poled rhombohedral 0.

Police brutality and unmet need for mental health care.

Objective: National movements have raised awareness of the adverse mental health effects of police brutality. This study examines the relationship between perceived police brutality and unmet need for mental health care.

Data Sources: We used the 2018 Survey of the Health of Urban Residents (N = 4338), a quota sample survey of adults in urban areas in the contiguous United States.